The Protector
by LoveBob
Summary: AU with slight Dresden File crossover. Someone stops Bella from jumping off the cliff. But who is this stranger? And why are they so hell bent on capturing the pack? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

So this is the first Chapter of my latest story and my first on Fanfiction (Yay!). On the summery it says Dresden File crossover, if you've read it: awesome. If you haven't… well read it, but don't worry. Everything I use from that series is going to be explained, so you won't be reading it and thinking 'Where the hell did THAT come from??"

Something else I want to address is the rating. I don't want rate it too low and get in crap because I added too much violence or lemons. So the mature rating stays. If I decide to flex my gore or romance muscle, I'll let you know.

Finally (geeez… this is almost longer then the chapter…) review, please. I like comments.

Raven hair and ruby lips  
Sparks fly from her finger tips  
Echoed voices in the night  
She's a restless spirit on an endless flight  
Wooo hooo witchy woman, see how  
High she flies

-Eagles

I smiled and raised my arms straight out, as if I was going to dive, lifting my face to the rain. But it was too ingrained from years of swimming at the public pool – feet first, first time. I leaned forward, crouching to get more spring…

And I flung myself off the cliff.

I screamed as I dropped through the open air like a meteor, but it was a scream of exhilaration, not fear. The wind resisted, trying vainly fighting the unconquerable gravity.

Then in a gut wrenching moment, I stopped in mid-air. How disorienting; I was sure I was falling. The air pushed against me in spirals until, slowly but surely, I began to rise. As I floated gently onto the edge of the cliff, I looked down at the water dazed. Did I do it wrong? No, I answered myself frowning. The laws of gravidity clearly stated that I should have landed in the water.

Shaking my head, I decided it didn't matter. As the old saying goes: If at first you don't succeed…

"Well, your persistent" a slightly amused voice called, "But if you jump again, on principle, I won't save you."

I whirled around, shocked to see someone standing a few feet behind me. It was a girl of elegant height perhaps eighteen or nineteen years old. She was dressed in a pair of tight looking blue jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged her curves. Her skin was pale, almost luminous; hair a midnight black. Startling storm – cloud gray eyes looked me over in concern.

"I – I …" I stuttered too confused and mortified for words.

She arched an eyebrow. "Brave enough to jump off a cliff, but not enough to talk to strangers. That's an odd personality trait."

"Who are you?" I blurted without thinking

Her grey eyes flicked to the edge of the cliff and back to me. "If you move away from the edge, I'll tell you" she compromised, "You're making me antsy."

I blushed slightly and walked toward her, eyes still studying her. Her black hair layered and flipped out at the sides in a rather punk style. She had high cheek bones and yet still had a soft round face. It was hard to believe she was human… if not for her eyes, I would have bet she was a vampire.

When she was satisfied with my distance from the cliff, the girl answered my question. "My name is Adrienne. Adrienne Mallory."

I frowned thoughtfully; where had I heard that name before? I shook it off thinking of another question. "What do you mean you saved me?" I asked bluntly, almost rudely. Just because she wasn't a vampire didn't necessarily mean she was human.

She smirked slightly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, besides aren't you supposed to thank me and walk away dazed and disoriented, not asking questions?"

This time my eyebrows rose. "Sorry, I thought that was more polite then asking: 'are you human?'. Next time I'll throw cordiality out the window."

Much to surprise-and irritation- she began to chuckle. "I don't mean to disappoint you, but witches tend to fall under the human category." She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "So you must know a lot of 'non-humans' for you to assume I'm supernatural?"

I hesitated, unsure on whether or not to answer. "Perhaps"

"I've heard the local wildlife has been… more rambunctious then usual." She stated slowly "Would you know anything about that?" her posture straightened and she walked closer to me.

I paled "N-no, of course not."

Her mouth twisted in to smirk "Has any one ever told you that you're an awful liar?" she asked. "Look, you're better off if you tell me what you know now, before you or any one else gets killed."

"I don't know what you're talking about" I retorted stubbornly. Who ever she was, I wasn't going to lead her to Jake or any of the other wolves.

"I think you do. I also think you should tell me what you know before the werewolves kill anyone else."

"They're not killing people" I said slowly, realizing what she was talking about "You have your information wrong."

"If I have my information wrong, then perhaps you should correct it."

I looked at her and deliberated. She was here to – I assumed – to stop the 'wolves from killing people. The problem was that they weren't and she obviously didn't know that. I had two options: One was to take her to Sam and get him to explain. However, if she was hunting the pack down I would be leading her straight to them. The other option was to tell her myself. Not exactly logical, but at least Jake and his pack would be safe.

"Look, you've got it wrong, the pack isn't hurting people, it's the opposite."

She looked at me disappointed, then sighed, "I really wanted to avoid this"

Edwards voice was urgent in my ear, _"Bella, don't look into her eyes. Run!" _

Before I could run or try to defend myself, her breathtaking eyes met mine and I was rendered motionless. Fog surrounded me, hiding the girl from my sight. As the temperature dropped several degrees; I realized that I wasn't on the cliff any more.

I was sitting in a circle bound, unable to move. I felt tears run down my face in a hot torrid, painful on my cold skin. The several cuts down my arms and legs begin to scream in pain. Despite this, I managed to glare at my captor.

"No." My voice was a weak whisper

"If you would just accept my gifts, I would let you go" A seductive voice taunted "All you would need to do is say yes."

The pain was becoming unbearable and soon I would loose consciousness. A blast of burning ice rocked my bones as my captor lost patience with my silence. "Darling, I truly don't want to hurt you, but if you continue to be so stubborn, I will have to resort to harsher methods."

I laughed in a wheezing cough. "Corliss, I doubt you could do much worse then this" I laughed again slightly, hysterical.

If my captor reacted to my laughter, I did not see, for I was now alone. I was walking through a forest that I had no recollection of. The forest was a mass of evergreens covered in a blanket of snow, which shone in the moonlight. I had been wondering in this maze hours before I collapsed on the edge of a frozen pond.

Shaking from both fear and cold, I stared at the ice, concentrating until my power broke the glass shield. With slight trepidation, I plunged my hands into the icy water and began to scrub them furiously. For the first time, I realized they we're covered in dried red paint. I scrubbed harder, faster turning the murky pound water crimson. My fingers were nearly blue when I pulled them form the water.

Snow was falling gently around me as I saw a girl in the pound. Her black hair was long and slashed at the wind violently. She had sickly pale skin with freckles that were strangest brown. I squinted, trying to see the colour, when a horrible realization occurred. They weren't freckles; the girl was covered in blood. When I raised my hand to cover my mouth, the girl in the pound did the same. I frowned confused. Then I took my hand away and examined it. Blood was smeared across my palm. I began to shake violently, and an awful bile rose in my throat.

On the edge of the pound my stomach heaved up what little I had eaten. Exhausted, I laid on my side and waited for darkness to come. Whether it was death or worse, I welcomed the peace.


	2. Chapter 2 Roadside

Chapter 2- Roadside

Tell me what I'm s'posed to do,  
With all these leftover feelings of you,  
'Cause I don't know,  
And tell me how I'm s'posed to feel,  
When all these nightmares become real,  
'Cause I don't know

-Rise Against

**Adrienne: **

I was in trouble with the council, again. Surprise, surprise.

I've been a trial to them for the last four years and now- no longer a recalcitrant ward- they were running out of excuses for me.

"Adrienne, I don't think you're taking this seriously." Ebenezer growled through a blanket of static.

"Image that," I muttered trying to concentrate on my map and drive at the same time, not an easy task. "Look, my safety is at risk here. I'm driving right now; didn't you know that talking on cell phones is the number one cause of accidents? For the sake of not only my life, but those of countless innocent bystanders, I beg you to please do the right thing and hang up now."

He cursed. "If you're so concerned about the lives of others, then why did you blow up a daycare last week?"

"What? I don't believe I know what you are talking about" I answered wincing. I didn't expect the council would find out so soon.

"Adrienne, don't pull that 'I'm a naïve little girl' shit with me. I can't help you with the Elders if you don't tell me the whole story."

"From what I've heard, your one of _them_, so even if I did know what your talking about, I would by default, be admitting my guilt to an council member who would no doubt reprimand me for my behavior". As I said this I knew it was crap, Ebb had and would always have my back if I needed him.

"Just tell me," he commanded with a sigh. "Quit changing the subject."

"Hey, I was just pointing out that you pulled an 'Anacin Skywalker'" I snickered "You've joined the dark side. Now you're going to have to get a cheesy alias and a cape. Not to mention the emotional turmoil—"

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, successfully shattering my right eardrum.

"Geez, keep your panties on" I said meekly. "Remember when I got attacked by vampires two weeks ago?"

He paused, as if not expecting this beginning, "Yes."

"Well, I managed to find out where there coven was living. Understandably upset, I blew up the building. This technically was a favor you know, with the war in all."

"What does that have to do with the daycare?" he asked impatiently

"Umm, the daycare was in the way of the building I was blowing up"

"That was extremely reckless," he ranted. "What if children were still in there? What would you have done then?"

"Not blown up the building," I said slowly, as if explaining a complicated math problem to a child.

"Well, it because of your stupidity that I'm sending you to Washington. Until this dies down, you are going to be staying with a friend of mine in a quite little town. Out of trouble" He said smugly.

"Really" I smiled at the coincidence. "Funny, I'm in Washington now."

"What?" He asked, completely and utterly confused

"I've been going some research; turns out a native reserve called La Push has been having several attacks by giant wolves. Now normally, wolves aren't the size of small ponies, so I'm guessing it's a werewolf problem." My grin grew bigger. "I think they need an exterminator."

"No." Ebb said, panic creeping into his voice, "No, you can't –"

I cut him off "Look Ebb, I'm touched by your concern. But I think I can handle this. Like the Pampers commercial says 'I'm a big girl now'".

"No" he repeated, "You don't understand-"

I hung up the phone before he could protest any more, feeling slightly guilty. Next time we met up, I would make it up to him. It was nice having someone trying to look out for me, even if he was council.

Thoughts of the council made my eyebrow twitch involuntarily. They ruled over wizarding society with an iron fist, using methods that made Stalin's regime of Russia pale in comparison. You broke the rules: death. You thought about breaking the rules: death. You blew up a day care: death, or at the very least probation for the next sixty years. I mentally thanked Ebb for saving my ass… yet again.

Because of the council's pompous and superior attitude (which I was often subjected to), we were at war with the vampires. Some slack-jawed idiot went to a ball held by vampire nobility and – in layman's terms – dissed them bad. So bad, that for the first time in history the vampire courts were at war with the wizards.

Since two mythical –and supposedly non-existent- races were duking it out, a few witches and wizards, like myself, took it upon themselves to 'police' the supernatural world. If unexplainable occurrences keep, well occurring, there is a chance humans might catch on. Which would be slightly calamitous. Last time withes came out of the closet with a pointy hat and broomstick, the Inquisition started. You know what they say, once burned twice shy.

So, while I knew these random acts of gruesome murder were not of the vampire variety, they still had to be stopped. And I was just the witch to do it. Yeah, I have a hero complex, what of it?

Naturally, because of that certain complex, when I saw some crazy chick jump off a cliff, I stopped my car, got out and calmly assessed the situation. _Right._ More like slammed on my brakes cursing leaped out and ran to the edge of the cliff, nearly falling off myself.

I blinked. Still processing what I just saw:

A.

Girl.

Just.

Jumped.

Off.

A.

Cliff.

I stood there for a second, staring in disbelief. A storm was coming, causing the water below to rise and fall violently. The person, who ever she was, wouldn't stand a chance of surviving. Without thinking, I closed my eyes and searched for my power. I felt an explosion of heat inside of me and called it forward, screaming:

"**V****entus,**lapsus ut**mei**nutus**"**_Wind, fall to my command_

The air turned into a whirlwind beneath the girl, slowly, gently pushing against her until she rose the edge of the cliff. She floated to the ground, looking at the water in a daze. Her head shook, she and walked to the edge, tensing as if she was going to jump…again.

Torn between horror and amusement I called out "Well, you're persistent, but if you jump again, on principle, I won't save you."

Shocked, the girl jumped and turned around allowing me to see her profile, doe-like brown eyes shone with fear and shock as she realized my presence. Then it happened so fast I almost missed it. The shock left, leaving only fear and shrewd intelligence. For a crazy chick, she seemed pretty smart.

"I – I –"

I arched an eyebrow, mildly amused. "Brave enough to jump off a cliff, but not enough to talk to strangers. That's an odd personality trait."

"Who are you?" She blurted without tact, blushing slightly.

The girl was still close enough to the cliff to jump again. She didn't _look_ suicidal, but I knew from experience the looks were often deceiving, "If you move away from the edge, I'll tell you" I compromised, "You're making me antsy."

She moved closer toward me, when I was satisfied with her distance from the edge I answered her question, "My name is Adrienne. Adrienne Mallory."

She frowned, and I could almost see the gears spinning in her head a mile a minute. "What do you mean you saved me?" she asked bluntly, almost rudely. I felt slightly offended. I mean come on, I _did_save her life. The least she could do was thank me.

I smirked humorlessly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, besides aren't you supposed to thank me and walk away dazed and disoriented, not asking questions?"

This time her eyebrows rose. "Sorry, I thought that was more polite then asking: 'are you human?'. Next time I'll throw cordiality out the window."

The girl had some attitude, or at least attempted to. I was sure she was going for 'I'm intimidating fear my knowledge look' but sadly, a kitten could have done better. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sorry to disappoint, but witch tends to fall into the human category." I paused as suspicion rose in me "You must know a lot of 'non- humans' to assume I'm not one."

She hesitated, "Perhaps"

"I've heard the local wildlife has been… more rambunctious then usual." I stated slowly, "Would you know anything about that?" My body became rigid as I walked toward her.

The girl paled, which told me she knew something, probably a big something. "N-no, of course not."

With renewed interest, my eyes narrowed looking her over. She was pale, with big brown eyes that were glistening with fear, reminding me of a deer in the headlights. Her frame was small, I estimated her height to be around 5'3 or 5'4, she was extremely slight, but possessed a softness that athleticism could never give. All in all, she had a classic beauty that was rarely seen out of the 1920s.

Or she once had. Her doe like eyes were shadowed with large dark circles, lending her the look of the living dead. She had her arms wrapped around herself tightly, like she would shatter without the support. She reminded me Bambi – lost, confused and looking for comfort.

I over came the urge to console her. I didn't even _know _this girl, and I wanted to pat her on the shoulder and tell her it would be okay. I had to stay focused, this girl not only knew killers, but it was obvious she covering for them.

"Has any one ever told you that you're an awful liar?" I asked. "Look, you're better off if you tell me what you know now, before you or any one else gets killed."

"I don't know what you're talking about" she retorted stubbornly.

I sighed, growing impatient. "I think you do. I also think you should tell me what you know before the werewolves kill anyone else."

"They're not killing people" she said slowly, as if just realizing something "You have your information wrong."

"If I have my information wrong, then perhaps you should correct it." It was obvious that this was doing no where, as a witch I had ways of finding out what she knew, but I would only use them as a last resort. My choices varied from mildly invasive, to spells that's could condemn me for life and turn her into a vegetable.

"Look, you've got it wrong, the pack isn't hurting people; it's the opposite." Her voice now was strong and full of certainty.

I sighed again, disappointed, "I really wanted to avoid this"

I was going to have to force it out of her. For the first time in out conversation, looked met her eyes and braced myself for the Soul Gaze.

Looking someone, anyone for that matter, the eyes is strangely intimate. You see emotions and even thoughts in eyes; for witches and wizards, it's slightly more. Eyes are the threshold to the soul. We can see _who_ the person is, their dreams, pasts, desires, aspirations… everything is bared. Even though this can give us an advantage over others, it's rarely used. While we see into others souls, they see into ours. Any advantage had is usually lost, as a person can see into our soul. For me, a Soul Gaze is always a last resort.

While I knew what to expect, the force of her memories knocked me breathless.

"_Hello," Said a quiet musical voice _

_I looked up, stunned that he was talking to me. He was sitting as far as the desk would allow, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled- even so he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, with a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful. _

"_My name is Edward Cullen" he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."_

In a blink, I was lying on the ground, lost in darkness.

"_Oh, Bella, no!" the angels voice cried in horror. "Bella, please! Listen to me, please, please, Bella, please!" He begged _

_Yes I wanted to say. Anything. But I couldn't find my voice._

"_Bella, Bella" the angel called agony in his perfect voice. The angel was crying._

_The angel shouldn't weep, it was wrong. I tried to find him, to tell him everything was fine, but the darkness was so deep on me and I couldn't breathe. _

_There was a point of pressure on my head. It hurt. Then as that pain broke through the darkness, stronger ones followed. I cried out, gasping breaking away from the darkness. _

"_Bella?" the angel cried. _

_I felt a sharp stab in my side. This couldn't be heaven, there was too much pain. _

_But the sharp pains were fading. There was a new pain that overshadowed everything else. _

"_Edward," I tried to tell him _

"_Bella, can you hear me? I love you."_

The memory faded and I attempted to withdraw from her mind. An intense pain ripped through me was the source of Bella's suffering pulled me further into her mind. Rendered useless, I was thrust into her past yet again.

_He took a deep breath and stared unseeingly at the ground for a long moment. His mouth twisted the tiniest bit. When he looked up, his eyes were different- harder. Frozen._

"_Bella, I don't want you to come with us" He spoke the words slowly and precisely, his cold eyes on my face, watching as I absorbed what he was saying. _

"_You...don't want…me?" I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded placed in that order._

I felt her mind loosen it's hold on me and I fought my damnedest to free myself. Too much. There was too much and something had gone terribly wrong. I was dragged by the undertow of her memories.

_He was gone. _

_With shaking legs, ignoring the action was useless, I followed him into the darkness. There were no foot prints, the leaves were still, but I walked forward without thinking. I couldn't do anything else. I had to find him, keep moving. If I had stopped it would have meant it was truly over. _

_Life, Love, Meaning... Over. _

Visions, sounds emotions all spun around me in a whirlwind of chaos as I found myself shaking on the ground. I looked around and noted, with some relief, that I was back on the cliff.

Bambi or I guess Bella, only a few feet away, was unconscious and curled into a ball. I stumbled over to her and checked her pulse. Physically, she was fine. I could only wonder what memories I had infected her with.

Breathing deeply, I pushed my hair from my face, noting that my hand was still shaking. That shouldn't have happened with a normal person. I should have been in full control of the gaze, pulling out when I wanted to. It seemed like her mind attacked me as soon as I entered it. I closed my eyes as I felt the familiar throbbing of a migrate, and cursed to myself

One thing was for shit sure, Bambi had bite.

* * *

Yes, this is chapter 2! I know, it took a while but, in my defense, finals, massive loads of homework, the two other fics I'm writing and my rather pathetic social life took priority. I also blame my beta (Harry you distract me!!) and my school for blocking Talk about oppression.

Since I'm done blaming everyone but myself for this taking so long, I wanted to address something. First, I changed Adrienne's last name from Dresden to Mallory. Why do you ask? Well, I'm not telling – insert pathetic evil laugh here – Secondly, Those who are confused about the soul gaze, it's from the Dresden files one of the few crossover aspects I'm using.

Thanks everyone!


	3. Chapter 3 Metal Now

**Chapter 3 – Metal Now**

I want it now,  
I want the danger.  
Give me strength and I'll give you wings.  
I get angry,  
When you're around, when you're around.  
I get nasty,  
When you're around, when you're around.

-Say Anything

**Adrienne:**

Bambi was still knocked out. 

She'd been sleeping for at least ten minutes, allowing me to grab my car and come back. I glanced at her worried, wondering if she was in shock from seeing my memories or exhausted from the mental punch she threw at me. It was probably both. I was sure she was fine, but I contemplated taking her to hospital or waiting for her to wake up.

The Soul gaze told me nothing about the werewolf attacks which, was irritating considering that was the whole point of the gaze. A part of me wanted to wait for the girl to wake up and question her. That and shake her screaming _who the hell do you think you are, bitch? _I wasn't used to being mentally sucker punched. In fact, I wasn't used to being wrong either. Bambi had done both, without even thinking about it, which just added insult to injury. 

As much as I wanted to slap her around – I meant _question_ her – I knew that I wouldn't. Don't get me wrong, under any other circumstance I would have, but after seeing how much she was hurting, I couldn't bring myself to. I had heard of true love, which is crass commercialism in my opinion, but this was it. Bambi was in love with this Edward completely and wholly. She was torturing herself because of it; because she wasn't enough to keep him. One word to sum up the situation: Stupid.

I sighed, knowing in the end I would take her to the hospital. She would wake up in a warm bed and rationalize the whole incident. People have rather good knack at repressing the 'impossible'. It was practically ingrained from birth; I was sure that Bambi would be fine. Now all I had to put her in the car, easy right? 

Wrong. While I could most definitely punch some one hard enough for them to become airborne, I lacked the upper body strength to lift her up and walk the short distance to my beat up black Pontiac. Time for plan B. Grunting, I hauled up her upper body and dragged her dragged her to the car. 

Pausing, I looked from the unconscious girl I was half carrying, to the back seat, then back to Bambi. How the hell was I supposed to get her in there? I set her down, ran around to the other side of the Pontiac, and got in the back seat. From there, slid across the seat, and then leaned out to where Bambi was laying. With a fast sure motion, I grabbed her feet, trying to pull her in the car. It worked rather well, at first. She was half in when I lost my grip, causing her to hit her head on the door. Oops. Bambi made a whimpering noise in response. 

"Sorry" I called down, "But that really wasn't my fault. This whole thing could have been prevented if you told me about the werewolves. But no. You had to lie. See where lying gets you?" 

I had successfully put her in the car and got out when I heard a low, husky voice demanded, "What are you doing?" 

I jumped and turned around to see a mountain of a guy standing behind me. Seriously, he was huge, towering over my 5'8, which was rare. Magic thrummed off him in erratic doses, telling me to tread with caution. 

I shut the backdoor, and said in a heavy Spanish accent, "Non parlo inglese" 

That threw him; he stood there for a second confused, "What? Who are you?" 

I smiled sweetly, replying, "Soy su muerte"

He stood there silent, and then moved forward checking me over in… concern? He apparently deemed me harmless when he pointed to himself and said slowly "Me Jake, what happened?" 

I fought the urge to say 'me Jane, you Tarzan' instead I moved upwind, feigning fright. This was definitely a werewolf, and I didn't want him to smell me. With a fake accent I stumbled, "C-car pro-lem?"

"Car problem?" He clarified, glancing at my Pontiac with obvious lust. "I can help; I know how to fix cars." 

Panic mixed with possessiveness me caused practically ran to the front of my car to block his way. Sure, the Pontiac was slightly beat up and the radio sucked and I was pretty sure the brakes weren't in tip top shape, but it was _mine_. I wasn't going to let some town idiot tinker around with it. "No, no. I got under control. I fix." 

The little – ok, not really _little ­_- bastard laughed. It was full of that '_I am a man, therefore I can fix it for the defenseless woman' _garbageI was surprised he didn't cart around wooden mallet to whack dinosaurs with. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing, go pop the hood." 

A part – a really, really big one – wanted to punch him. Punch him, laugh and drive away. But that annoying insipid voice in my head, which oddly enough sounded a lot like Ebb, warned me other wise. Giving him what he wanted would get him faster and easier. I'm guessing my twitching grew more pronounced, as he looked at me in concern and asked, "Do you have something in your eye?" 

"No, no – con-tack pro-lem, fine now. Going pop hood" I smiled, hopefully not baring my teeth. 

"Alright" He replied, giving me a look often reserved for the insane. "I'll be waiting." 

I opened the front door muttering under my breath. Stupid werewolf, thinking he could fix my stupid car. I glanced in the rear view mirror at Bella's sleeping form. Wolfie still hadn't noticed her. Even if he didn't see her, he should have smelled her. Frowning, I reached under my seat, searching. I breathed out in relief feeling the hilt of my blade; I pulled it out then its partner. 

Witches and wizards carry objects they can use as a medium for their power. Most carry large wooden staffs that would make Gandalf proud, called blasting rods. They are created by their owners, which means the power blasting rods receive is limited. Don't get me wrong, some – very few, actually ­–wizards could wipe the floor with me when they channeled with a blasting rod. Sticks just didn't suite my fighting style. 

I was trained with something that packed a little more punch. The daggers I held in my hand were forged in the Fae, made not only as a channel for my magic, but acted as an amplifier for it. The blades were long and thicker then your standard dagger with ancient runes craved down the sides. Their hilts were curved in the shape of a clawed talon gripping a Charoite stone. In times of crisis the stone seemed to pulse, coming alive in my hands. 

"Are you doing to pop the hood?" an annoyed voice boomed, causing me to jump. "You _do_ know how to do that, right?" 

"Yes I do!" I shot back, strapping the leather sheaths to my arms.

"That's a surprise" I heard him mutter quietly. 

That was it. I got out of the car, slamming the door shut. "In fact, I probably know more about cars then some giant, pushy Lysol drinking hick, who – for being a racial minority himself- is a completely and utterly condescending!" 

I glared up at him, feeling my magic course through me, responding to my anger. The voice in the back of my head cursed my irrational reaction. I ignored it, and walked dangerously close to Wolfie; this would definitely help me work off some frustration. I stopped four feet in front of him, bracing myself for an attack. 

But it never came. He stood there, staring at me in disbelief, and said; "You can speak English?" 

This guy was freaking brain dead. "No, actually I'm speaking in Arabic, couldn't you tell?" If sarcasm was liquid, it would be dripping from my words.

"What- w-who?" He stared at me dumbfounded, I emphasize on the dumb. 

"Going to get that sentence out sometime this week? As werewolves go, you score really low on the scary and intimidating scale. Like a negative zero point four." Why wasn't he trying to punch me yet? Werewolves are all brawn not brain, but while this one obviously lacked brains, he wasn't attacking me. That was unusual behavior for a psycho serial killer. 

Wolfie's eyes went flat, his voice dangerously soft, "What did you say?" 

That's it. "The 'are you going to get that sentence out this week' or the pathetic werewolf part?" 

"Are you freaking crazy?" Was his brilliant retort

"That's fresh, coming from the psycho serial killer" 

"What are you talking about?" he laughed, "First I'm a werewolf, now I'm a serial killer? I think someone forgot to take their antipsychotic this morning." 

"Really," with as much speed I could muster, I pulled out my knife and launched it into his shoulder. 

Or I planned on it. With stunning speed, he grabbed the knife inches away from his skin. "Bummer, I really expected that to be sticking out of your shoulder." 

"What the hell? Do you throw knives at everyone who offers to help you, or this just a one time thing?" He asked, eyes glaring. 

"Normally? No. However I'll make an exception for you" I used that moment to slam my foot into his midsection. 

Jolts of pain raced of my leg when it connected with his body. Stupid super strong werewolf. Using the momentum and his surprise, I knocked my knife out of his grasp. His eyes widened in shock as he fell flat on his ass. Wolfie's surprise lasted about a millisecond before his leg snaked out tripping me. Before I had time to think, he was on top of me, gripping my arm with surprising strength. Instead of the painful vise grip I expected, his hand was, oddly enough, almost gentle. Well, colour me confused.

He leaned forward deliberately, sniffing my hair. "Why do you smell so familiar?" he asked, voice full of wonder "I feel like…" Wolfie closed his eyes, inhaling.

This wasn't what I expected. He was supposed to attack me and I was going to give him a royal ass kicking. Not inhale my scent like heroin. Murderous werewolves – which I was beginning to doubt he was – kill because of the need to hunt, but if I didn't know better, Wolfie could have passed as human. Probably better then me. 

"Erm, uhm…?" I garbled incoherently, beginning to drown in the heat radiating off him. _Way to Adrienne, become a babbling idiot because some guy is on top of you. Smooth. _I cleared my throat "Excuse me, but could you let go of me be before I force you to?" 

He smiled down at me, black eyes aflame with amusement, "How do you plan to force me? Like you said, I'm a werewolf after all- by the way, how did you know that?"

I smiled in return, baring my teeth "I'm a witch; we're an ominous all knowing species." 

"A witch? I would've thought guys were green and had warts. Maybe even flying monkeys" He joked, obviously pleased with himself. It was probably the best his little brain could come up with. "What is your name anyway? Wait, let me guess, Wicked Witch of the West?" Wolfie was definitely going to pay for that

I began to squirm out of his grip, managing to get my leg free. "What are you-" His question was abruptly stopped when I kicked up my leg at full speed and strength, successfully flipping him over my head. "Adrienne, my name is Adrienne" I answered his previous question, as I rose to my feet. 

I was on them for a minute when strong arms caught me up from behind. One wrapped around my neck, the other around my waist. Shit, this guy was fast. I was going to have to resort to magic soon. "Please don't make me do the chick fight thing." I panted. 

He sounded confused "Chick fight thing?" 

"Yeah, this," I reached up and pinched the sensitive web of skin between his thumb and forefinger, as my foot flew back into his shin. He let go of me with a yelp, and I whirled, my fist connecting with his jaw. 

"Ow! Did you know you have a freakishly hard jaw?" I shook my hand, hoping to relieve some pain, "So if you're not the psycho serial killer, who is?" 

He hesitated, unsure on whether to punch or reply. Wolfie lowered his fist and answered, "It isn't the question of who it is, but what it is." 

I rolled my eyes at the distain in his voice, "Again with the racism. You should really be more accepting to people of different ethnicity. _What_ then?" 

He turned a rather amusing shade of red and a vain began to pulse in his forehead. "Vampires aren't people! They're monsters" 

"So said the werewolf," I mocked, thinking. What was so important going on here that vampires would attack? Fighting usually took place in cities or areas of a high magical population. Not small towns like La Push. "What brought the war to your doorstep?" 

"War?" was his perplexed reply. 

"Yeah the war, you know the one between the Vampire Courts and the White Council. Been waging for the last, I don't know, six years?" 

His frown deepened, a feat I didn't think possible, "Vampire Courts?" 

I looked to the sky, begging for help. Hicks were so under educated on these things; I was going to explain when a high pitched female voice called, "Jake? What's going on?" Crap, I had totally forgotten about Bambi. She ran to Wolfie's gripping his hand. Ah, well _that_ explained why she wouldn't tell me anything. 

"Bella? How did you get here?" he asked surprised, then looked at me, eyes narrowing. He let go of her hand and grabbed my wrist. "Never mind, we're going to meet Sam to sort this out." 

My eyes narrowed. I really don't like being told what to do. "No, I don't believe I am." I said slowly, enunciating. 

His glare met my own "Yes, you are." 

I wrenched my wrist from his hand, "Sorry, I made previous arrangements and I just _can't _reschedule it. Hmm… my only opening is when hell freezes over, is that good for you?" 

I felt my lips twitch as made an exasperated noise. "Look, your coming, even if I have to force you to." 

I glanced at Bambi who was staring at the both of us, confused and scared. "Are you alright?" I asked with as much gentleness that I could muster. It wasn't much. 

That seemed to throw the both of them for a loop, and I saw Wolfie frown, probably wondering why he hadn't asked. "I-I-" she started, "I feel fine."

I resisted the urge to pat her head as I said, "I wouldn't have done that if I knew the effect it was going to have on you" 

Before she could speak, Wolfie cut her off, eyes accusing "What did you do to her?" 

I barely glanced at him when I answered. "I don't believe was speaking to you" I focused my attention on Bambi, "Is he always like this?" 

Her was expression was one I hadn't seen before, something between a smile and a frown. She struggled for a moment then asked in her quiet voice, "Aren't you supposed to be evil?" 

I winked, "I like to keep 'em guessing" I found myself actually liking this girl. Something told me she had a lot more kick then she seemed to let on.

Her smile seemed to win out the frown on her face. My mind turned calculating, wondering if the Gaze had anything with her lack of fear, or for that matter, anger. I wanted to ask her about what she saw, but just then Wolfie cleared his throat, reminding me of his presence. Even though I was more then curious at about what Bambi observed, bringing it up in front of Wolfie seemed to be a bad idea. 

I looked at my watch, then back at the couple, "Whoa, time has been a flying. It's been fun; we'll have to do this again. Cheerio!" 

Wolfie's hand grasped my arm again, this time there was no hint of his former gentleness. His eyes gained a strange feral light, and the hair on the back of my neck stood in response. The grip he had on me was harsh; so much that I would bare marks tomorrow. He pulled me forward in a blur of a moment; I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Bambi moved forward alarmed, tentatively touching his arm. "Jake are you-"

Her question was cut off as Wolfie shook her off, nearly knocking the girl to the ground. "I said you weren't leaving." His unbreakable hold tightened, threatening to snap my arm.

I swallowed back the pain and called calmly to Bambi, "Bella, move away from him." When she hesitated, I added some steal to my voice, "Now!"

The werewolf's eyes tightened at the hostility in my tone. I would have to remain calm to prevent him from changing, while still hanging on to me. Actually, preventing him from changing at all would make my life much easier. Anyone in their right mind would shy away from fighting werewolves in their wolf form, not only were they huge -with super speed and strength- but some had a natural resistance to magic. Not really the ideal situation for a witch. 

I looked up at him, careful not to meet his eyes. "Jake, you need to calm down" I reasoned, trying to keep my voice emotionless. If there was any trace of anger, he would take that as a show of dominance and attack. The same would apply for fear; he would see it as a weakness and take me out. Talking a werewolf down from the edge wasn't especially easy. It was damned near impossible.

Something flickered in behind his eyes, I took advantage of it and pressed on, "You need to take control," I paused as the viperous light began to recede. "You need to let me go." 

Any progress I had made was lost with that single statement, as his eyes turned glassy yet again. "No!" he roared, his whole frame beginning to shudder. "I won't, I won't let you leave!" His other arm swooped down, lifting me nearly a foot off the ground, and pressing my body against his. 

Son of a fucking bitch, he was going to change, while hanging on to me. I closed my eyes, my mind franticly searching for some kind of spell, _anything_ to save me. Not finding a shred of hope, I began to struggle, blinded by panic. I kicked, punched; struggling to no avail. Distantly, I heard a crack and a shriek of pain in response. _"Never mind!" _I screamed at myself_, "Get away!"_

Then, suddenly, the werewolf let go of me, howling. I opened my eyes, not realizing that had they been closed, and saw my knife sticking out of its arm. Blood ran down his arm in a gruesome tide, dripping rapidly to the ground. Despite his efforts, he couldn't remove the knife no matter how hard he pulled. 

I rose to my feet, my broken arm hanging uselessly at my side. Hair moved in a breeze only I could feel as I whispered "Forzare" 

There was a moment when the small clearing we were in went silent, almost serene. I noted his struggle to remove the knife; a girl standing there tears streaming down her face- eyes haunted. Then power rocketed out of me, its focus standing only standing half a foot away. The werewolf's black eyes widened in astonishment as an invisible force knocked into him, sending him soaring into sky. 

A voice screamed in response as he fell to the ground. I heard a series of voices I hadn't heard before, spiraling around in my mind. For the second time today, I fell to the ground. My power, in spite of just being released, threatened to break free. I whimpered, trying to control the chaos inside. 

I heard a soft female voice ask, "Are they doing to be okay?" 

There was a terse reply, "I'm not sure… Jake's knocked out"

There was a crunch of gravel as one walked up to me. I looked up, dimly aware that it was the girl. "Are you…" she knelt down and reached out to touch me. 

My magic roared in response, and I felt the earth around me shake. It's fury threatening to brake from my restraining hold. I glanced at Bambi's general direction, not daring to make eye contact. "Don't touch me" 

She blinked, and then slowly backed away, as if I was a rabid dog. Upon the thought, my eyes narrowed; searching. The werewolf was over 20 yards away, laying on the ground. I saw the slight glisten of my hilt in his arm. 

Taking a deep breath and rose to my feet, muttering "Venio." The knife flew in my hand at the call.

Slowly, as I wasn't sure of my balance, I walked to my car. The need to go was too strong for me to stay and wait for it to return. I managed to get to the front door before my way was blocked. It was a new boy, and by the low vibe of magic coming off him, he was a werewolf. "Look after the girl" I said, reaching around him to open the door. 

"Look, we need to get you to a hos-" 

"Move," I said in strangled voice, flicking my fingers, as I would to bat away a fly. 

He stumbled out of the way, nearly falling. Uninterested, I got into my car, started it, and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. When the car finally came to a stop, I had driven to the hospital and broke several traffic laws in the process. A weak smile came to my face as I leaned my head against the steering wheel, shaking. 

And they say werewolves can't fly.

* * *

Authors NOTES: 

So yes! Chapter 3... nearly a month later. One word: sorry. I really didn't mean for it to take this long, but I had a hard time with this one. Jake and Adrienne's 'relationship', or what I had in mind for it, is proving to be difficult. That and getting Jakes character right, so if he is odd to you, I'm sorry. Jake's wiggy werewolf-ness is confusing, but you will understand in the next chapter... I hope. 

My Spanish sucks. Really. So "Soy su muerte" means (or supposed to mean) "I am your death" (I bet her response funnier now) 

Adrienne's last name has nothing NO-THING to do with Lauran. Vanquish the thought. 

Finally (yeah I babble...) my beta (LOVE YA HARRY!) brought up an issue: Adrienne is a witch, so why didn't she blast Jake in the beginning? Because she was playing with Jake. Also, I'm sure everyone can guess this, but Adrienne's control is bad. Very bad, so she avoids using magic unless it's a last resort. Also, wouldn't it get boring if that was all she did to beat the bad guy? I think so... 

LoveBob 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Welcome to the Black Parade

**Billy: **

My son got beat up by a girl.

I didn't have many details; most of them were mish- mashed from Sam, and other teenage boys. Not necessarily reliable resources. Jake wasn't telling me anything, he sat in his room stewing, face contorted in the customary frown. Newly customary, I should say. There were times when he was happy, but now – even though those times were only months away, they could've been light years.

I put my hands on the wheels of my chair, and propelled myself forward to Jakes room, refusing to leave him alone with his thoughts. I stopped in the doorway, looked in and slowly wheeled myself into the narrow room. Jake was sprawled across his small bed, facing the wall.

"Jake? Bella went home." I said carefully, wondering when talking to my son became like trying to walk on eggshells.

"I know," he said, barely looking at me, "She said good - bye before she left."

I studied his expression, finding it foreign and undecipherable. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he snapped, glaring now, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I-", I paused, searching for something to say that wouldn't offend him, "Because-"

The sad attempt to back track was interrupted when Embry walked into the room, his steps silent; "Because you got owned by a girl" he finished for me. I didn't know whether to praise the boy or curse his stupidity.

Jake jumped up, fist clenched, "It wasn't a normal girl!" he growled, "She was a witch!"

"So? Does your dad know that?" Embry asked, yawning. If you looked up nonchalant in the dictionary, his face would be beside the word.

Jake blinked, "Huh?"

"That's what I thought" he sighed dramatically, then turned to me, "Your boy has no respect for his elders."

"You're younger then I am!!" Jake exploded.

"Really? 'Cuz with the way you're acting no one would be able to guess," Embry shot back.

Jake raised his fist to hit Embry, then thought better of it, and turned to me. "I was looking for Bella," he started, "Victoria had doubled back to the water and Bella spends a lot of time at the beach and I went to worn her but-."

Embry rolled his eyes, interrupting, "Get to the 'Jake gets whipped by a girl' part."

"--There was a girl who seemed to have car trouble and couldn't speak English, I offered to help her out. She seemed grateful … at first"

"Oh, Jakey, what would I do without your manly charm and boyishly good looks?" Embry asked in an unnaturally high tone, batting his eyelashes. "Thank you so much for helping me! However shall I repay you? "

Jake began to twitch, "Then, for no reason she attacked me saying she was a witch and some nonsense about vampire courts."

"A witch?" I asked, frowning, something was picking at the surface of my mind; I just couldn't remember for the life of me what.

"Yeah," Embry piped up, "She was so bad ass and her hair colour _had_ to be from I bottle but it _looked _natural!! And her shoes were to die for. Bella said her name was Adrienne. I think I'm in love!"

"What?" Jake asked in disbelief

The boy coughed and said in a deeper voice, "I mean she had big tits…"

My frown grew. "Adrienne," I mused, wondering why the name sounded familiar. "What was that about the vampire courts?"

Jake stretched, using the movement to cover his face. "Something about a war, I don't really remember…" he trailed off, a hint of embarrassment colouring his tone.

I put Jakes embarrassment from my mind and focused, trying to connect the war with this Adrienne person. Of course I knew about the war, as I had supernatural contacts, but other then Sam, no one knew. We came to the conclusion that the activities of the Red Court and the White Council had nothing to the pack. The only recent news I had came from an old friend Ebenezer, who only mentioned it in a passing, when he asked if his ward could stay with us… whose name was Adrienne. Jesus H Christ, she wasn't supposed to come for another two weeks!

Seeing my panic first, Embry asked in concern, "Billy, what's wrong?"

"Tell me exactly what happened. Leave nothing out." I demanded, pining Jake with my gaze.

"Look, I don't think—"

"Enough Jake, tell me what really happened. No editing, I need to know what happened. Where did she go?"

Jake looked down, shame filling his gaze, "I-I lost control, I think I broke her arm and…"

"And?" I prompted, fighting the urge to mow him down with my wheelchair.

"And she blasted him, like fifty feet in the air and drove away," Embry supplied, eyes hard. "I tried to stop her, but she drove away."

"Crap, Crap, CRAP!!" I vented, "Where did she go?" Jake open his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. "Go find Sam, and tell him Adrienne came early. We need to find her." When they hesitated, obviously confused, I glared and shouted, "NOW!!" They ran.

This was not good. Adrienne– from what Ebenezer had said – was an extremely powerful witch, with a bad, bad temper. Having her lose and injured was not safe for the pack or herself. She could, as the boys would say, open a can of whip-ass. I pictured my son getting blasted fifty feet in the air and laughed without humor. She sure was Margaret's granddaughter.

I wheeled in to the living room searching for the phone, cursing Jake for never putting it back. After a brief search, I found it and entered the familiar number, heart pounding as I put it to my ear, listening to it ring. My blood pressure must be through the roof.

"Hello?" a tried voice asked.

"Ebb?" I asked "It's Billy."

A loud sigh of relief "Thank god, look Adrienne—"

I cut him off "Is here, early, injured and we have no idea where she is."

"Son of a bi-" there was a sharp intake of breath, as Ebenezer tried to calm himself. "Are the boys okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I frowned, "Why wouldn't they be?"

His responding laugh was so lame, if it were a horse, a farmer would have shot it. "She was convinced that they were responsible for some killings. That she, of course, had to stop. So, problems with the boys?"

My grip tightened on the phone, making the plastic creak. "No," I said slowly, careful now, "It was a bit of a vampire problem. That we have under control. But if a teenage girl can assume that it's werewolves, then who else can we expect?"

"We've been through this, Billy, the Council has no idea about the pack, and to be frank, and at the moment we couldn't give a damn." There was a slight pause, and I could practically hear the gears spinning in his head, "Vampire problem? Do they know about Adrienne?"

"No, completely it's unrelated. Why would they come after Adrienne?" I asked confused, "I thought you wanted to keep her from the Council?"

"Well, she is a witch," Ebenezer hedged, "And we _are_ at war with vampires."

I have known this man since the time I was biting ankles, if he thought I was going to buy that load of who-ha, he could forget it. "Ebb, Jake is a better liar then you and the boy is seventeen. If I don't know the whole story, it may put her in more danger" I hesitated, wondering if I was packing the guilt on too much, "Put my _son_ in danger."

A sigh, blanketed with static rippled through the line, "It really doesn't have much to do with Adrienne, but to do with her father. He's a main target in the war and, if anyone knew of her existence, it would put her in a vast amount of danger."

"So Margaret's son wanted you to put her in hiding," I stated, understanding entirely. Any father would want to keep their child out of harms way. Hell, even I had wanted to lock Jake in his room when I heard that he was hunting vampires. It was a natural instinct.

Silence met my statement, and my eyes widened in horror. Please god, let me be wrong, I thought. "He doesn't know? That you took her? Look Ebb, at least give him the number. I'm sure Adrienne doesn't want to spend time here without talking to the man who raised her."

"He didn't." was the quiet reply, so soft, that I almost missed it. Almost. "He doesn't know she exists."

I closed my eyes and tried to will away my irrational anger to cease. I hadn't met Margaret's son- I didn't even know the kids name- I only knew what Ebenezer had said about him in a passing. But no man deserves have their child taken from him. And that's what Ebenezer had done. "You son of a bitch, how long have you known?" I asked, with an eerie calm.

"Four years. I didn't about her up until four years ago." Ebenezer said; voice saturated with guilt.

"Four years and you haven't said a word?" I nearly yelled, his statement breaking my control. "What about her mother? Does she know you're doing this? Does Adrienne know?"

"Her mother thinks the girl died at infancy. Adrienne believes her biological parents are dead. Don't be so quick to judge me Billy," Ebenezer stated with an undertone of steel, "Do you think I would do this without good reason?"

"I don't care what your reasons are!" I snapped, "Keeping a child from her parents is wrong."

"There are circumstances that make any relationship they could have fruitless, Adrienne is special. And right now looking for her father or mother would just add complications that no one needs."

"And who gave you the power over this girl's life?"

"I did. Until she is eighteen, I am her legal guardian," was the tired reply. "Billy, believe me; I wouldn't have done this if it wasn't necessary."

"I guess," I said hesitantly. Ebenezer was, at heart, a good man. In this I had to trust his judgment. "But if she comes to me, I'm not going to lie." I added.

I could almost hear the steam coming out of his ears. "That is your choice."

"So when we find her, I assume we stick to the old plan?" I asked.

"I hope so. Could you please get her to call me when you find her? She turned of her phone."

"Will do." Even to me, my voice sounded hostile.

"And… Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Ever.

We both said our less then friendly good – byes and hung up. I stared at the phone, wondering if I was doing the right thing. I thought of the nameless, faceless man who had no idea that he had a child, who didn't even get the chance to hold her in his arms. And I was keeping her from him. Sickened to the core, I sped into my bed room, slamming the door behind me. I sat there for moment, trying to gather and calm my thoughts. _Slamming doors wasn't going to solve anything_, I told myself, breathing deeply. _You're not a child._

I wheeled to my closet, bent down and picked up a wooden box that was sitting there collecting dust. It wasn't anything remarkable, just a plain, square polished oak box, marred with dents and scratches. I marveled ay how such an un-extraordinary box could hold so many of my memories. My hands pried open the box, going through the contents. I paused here and there, smiling at a picture of Jake and his sisters covered in paint smiling jubilantly at the mess they made; shaking my head at song I wrote in my teens, waxing poetic about superman.

Finally, I came cross what caused me to open this small box of reminiscences. It was a letter written on flower stationary, the writing elegant, far too much so for the age of the author. I stared at the paper, without seeing it. I didn't have to read it to know what it said, thirty years was long enough to memorize the haunting words.

_I saved your life today William Black, and it is needless to say you owe me your very life. Do not distress, I will not call upon your debt to me lightly. You may not recall this, but before I saved you, an oath of fealty was sworn to me and mine. Every generation of the Black will serve every generation of the __LeFay__. Dear boy, I told you not to fear, I won't take this gift lightly. Only my heir, my true successor, will be able to hold you and yours accountable. _

_I'm entrusting my children and grand children to your care. Live to your name Dear William, protect them from the harsh world; treat them as you would your own kin. That is all I ask in return for your life. _

_Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay_

I sighed, absently wondering if my life was worth the slavery of my children. But as she said, only her true heir could evoke the spell put on us. Even if Adrienne was the 'true successor' if she had no idea of her linage…

My hands shook, and I cursed Ebenezer. Damn it, he knew I wouldn't say anything for fear of the girl invoking the spell on my family. I could not – would not – allow my children be bond to a witch for eternity.

Jake took that moment to barrel in to my room panting. "W-We found the girl. She's at the local hospital." The boy paused to catch his breath, "Sam says you should come and talk to her."

I nodded my agreement and began to wheel out of the house, towards Sam's idling car outside, trying not to think about what I was going to do. All I had to was convince an extremely powerful witch that we were the good guys and not to kill us. I turned to Jake as I went from my 'chair and into the car.

"Go grab my blood pressure pills."


End file.
